I haven't had time to read it all yet but from what little I read its pretty interesting :yaya:Good luck with the pop-ups at this site as well as the slow loading pages .

And, as for the enigmatic Weavers, who initially appeared heroically brave and deserving of our praise for persevering through a grisly loss, soon seem almost universally scorned. All the Schroeders, including Hunter, had harsh words for them. What gives? Who are these Weaver people?! "Every single family agreed..." says Stassi. "They were so rude to families especially during Pit Stops. You would ask them questions, they wouldn't answer; stare at us blank in the face; walk away. That was how they were. And then they would come up and try to be our friends, like, Hey! What's going on? and I was like, Are you kidding me? And then they would go up to other teams and say, 'You know what? I have a proposition for you, you know, I want to be allies with you.' This after they were so rude to them!

"I mean, when we came into the trailer park, they were screaming to the Godlewskis, 'Don't you dare help them! Don't help them! We hate them!' And then they came up to us right after, 'How was your day? Were you OK? How are you?' It's just extremely fake and hypocritical, and I'm all for playing the game — I think you should. So I'm for being aggressive in the Race. It's just that there's ways to go about things and they didn't play with integrity. And I can tell you that every chance they got they would break the rules. I'm not kidding. They would cut us off, we almost got into car accidents with them; when we were being yelled at for going, like, five miles over the speed limit... I mean, no one appreciated the way they were acting or playing the game."

"Initially I got along great with the girls, I was always talking with them, you know. And they were very nice to me. It was just like in the second leg something snapped and it's like the mom put a chain on each and every one of them and pulled them aside and said, 'Listen. This is what you have to do.' And it was like something just changed all of a sudden.

"And another thing, I mean, they complained 24/7 and cried about how they wanted to go home, they hated the Race, WHY were they doing this... when all of my family and I wanted to do was just continue... And for us to get out knowing that we wanted it so bad and have them [the Weavers] sit there and watch us be eliminated — and not even care — it was heartbreaking." Mark Schroeder concurs earnestly: "That's our problem with the Weavers. We had our whole heart and soul invested in this and we had to listen to them whining and crying and complaining about not wanting to be there... it made us insane."

"I have a ton of respect for the Weavers for getting through what they did," continues Stassi, almost subdued. "If I were in their situation, I don't know if I would have been able to go through that. And that's another reason I was so upset because I'm glad for them for being able to succeed and to get through what they did. And now they probably think we're just the devil! Honestly, it did look like we were really big assholes and if I were them I'd be extremely upset. And I wish I could just get a hold of them and get in touch with them, it's just... I wouldn't know what to say."

It's not that her kids have made it to the final four of "The Amazing Race," but how they've done it that makes Terri Linz proud.

"The kindness they've showed to each other - and others - has been nice," says the Anderson Township resident about Nick, 24, Alex, 23, Megan, 21 and Tommy (aka "Bone"), 19.

So far, six of the 10 families have been eliminated in CBS' Emmy-winning competition for a $1 million prize that will be awarded sometime next month.

And it hasn't been pretty. The "family edition" - with teams expanded from couples to four people - will be remembered as the most mean-spirited of the eight editions.

Even the Linz kids have been surprised at the snarky comments made about teams by the Weavers - widow Linda, 46, and her three teenage children from Ormond Beach, Fla.

"My children said they never thought ill of the Weavers until they watched the shows on TV," says Linz, the official family spokesperson. The four participants can't talk to the media until they are eliminated from (or win) the race.

"Alex told me they had no problem with them at all, but they never really got to know them.," she says.

The negative tone may be hurting CBS ratings. The "Race" has run fourth at 9 p.m. Tuesdays this fall in TV's most competitive time period, where four shows rank among the top 30. ABC's new "Commander in Chief" is 10th with 15.8 million viewers, followed by "My Name Is Earl" (No. 19; 12.6 million); "House" (No. 20; 12.8 million) and the "Race" (No. 30; 12.5 million). The "Race" has lost 500,000 viewers since last spring.

Follow the money ..honest Sups as you know how many times have we seen a bad betting spoiler ? Last season I bet against Ucheena & Joyce cause after studying the vid-caps I concluded that there was no way U&J could possably catch up to Rombers lead ..well we all know what happened there .. ]][

I know what you mean but I have a feeling that they would have worked to get those doors open regardless of the team. As creative as they are at editing, they wouldn't have been able to swing only one team being in the final city for the big finale!

America will find out tonight if the Ormond Beach family on the CBS reality show "The Amazing Race" will be among the final three families who will compete for the $1 million prize.

Linda Weaver, 46, and her three children, 19-year-old Rebecca, 16-year-old Rachel and 14-year-old Rolly, are vying in the travel adventure quest for $1 million.

The father of the family, Roy Weaver III, was struck and killed by a race car at Daytona International Speedway Feb. 8, 2004, as he was removing debris from the track. The family has a wrongful-death lawsuit pending against the track and the race-car driver involved.

Then came the opportunity to join the TV show, which features teams that must race around the globe and complete tasks at different locations. This season's version of the show has spent most of its time in the United States, but has ventured to both Panama and Costa Rica as well.

The race began with 11 families of four ( |( ), but has been whittled down to the last four. The final three teams will compete for the final prize. Those final three will be decided in tonight's one-hour episode which airs on WKMG at 9 p.m.

The Weavers have come in first in just one of the previous nine pit stops. They are currently in second place after the last leg brought them to watch Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park.

"One of the reasons why we want to do the race is just to really work together as a team, and accomplish a goal and find out we're still a family -- we're still a victorious family," Linda Weaver said.

"We were a strong, united family before," she said. "Now we're going to be a strong, united family again."

It seemed like an intriguing idea for The Amazing Race, CBS's Emmy-winning reality show, which has its two-hour season finale tomorrow night at 9 p.m. (Ch. 4 and 12).

Instead of couples racing around the world for a $1 million first prize, the current edition of the show features four-person families -- some with children as young as 8. (Among the families racing this season was the Aiello clan of Mansfield, Mass., which includes Johnston police officer David Alverson.)

But critics, and many fans, have widely panned Amazing Race: Family Edition. Somehow, the dynamics between couples were far more interesting than the relationships among four family members.

"Personally, I can't wait until The Amazing Race gets back to the business of showcasing pairs," wrote Marc Berman, of the broadcasting trade journal Mediaweek.

The racers rarely ventured outside the United States this season. For viewers who liked seeing Americans tiptoeing through rat-infested temples in India, this Amazing Race seemed less amazing than tame.

Bertrand van Munster, co-creator and executive producer for the show, is well aware of the criticism.

"Part of the problem we had as producers was that we had to introduce four people to the audience instead of two -- times 10," he said in a phone interview last week. "That's 40 people, and that's a difficult thing for the audience to absorb."

But Munster said the show didn't suffer in the ratings. (Last week about 11 million people watched the show.)

"I'm grateful that CBS was willing to try something different. . . . this was a very family-friendly show. And the show was a great calling card for the U.S. We had always wanted to do an 'Americana' version of the race, for us to show the beauty and diversity of the U.S. We become jaded in a way," said van Munster, who was born in Holland.

Van Munster didn't want to give much away about the next season of The Amazing Race, which is already in production. But he did say that it would go back to the original couples format -- and he promised audiences would not be bored.

"You'll all be sitting on the edge of your seat -- I guarantee it," he said.

When it first appeared, it took some time for The Amazing Race to find its audience. Its premiere aired right after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

"Suddenly, no one was interested in seeing Americans on airplanes traveling around the world," van Munster said. "I thought it was all over. But CBS was very patient."

Slowly, Race's combination of far-flung adventure and personal conflicts caught on, and its production values won the admiration of the industry. (The Amazing Race has won the Emmy for best reality show three times).

Van Munster said there are some obvious security concerns when you're producing an international race, but by and large the world is not as dangerous as some might think.

"Everybody in this country is brainwashed about how bad the world is," he said. "We've been to 80 countries. Yeah, we're not flying to Afghanistan or Iraq, but almost everywhere we go we're treated with kindness and respect and hospitality."

Van Munster said the show continues to surprise him -- nobody can predict who will win.

In a bit of stunt casting last year, The Amazing Race recruited Survivor winners Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich.

With a mix of charm and amoral cunning, the pair almost won -- but got caught when competitors Uchenna and Joyce Agu persuaded a nearly departed plane to open its doors and let them on the flight.

That raised some eyebrows. But van Munster said The Amazing Race crew had nothing to do with it. "The whole idea is that they are inventive people, and they're able to persuade people to do things for them."

The previous season saw probably the show's most notorious contestant, Jonathan Baker, who appeared nasty to the point of abuse with his wife, Victoria Fuller.

Baker, who has grandparents in Rhode Island, said in interviews that the show's editing made him look worse than he really was.

"Jonathan's not a bad guy, don't get me wrong," van Munster said. "But I could have gone into the editing room and replaced everything we used with something else he did that we didn't use. It is what it is."

The television pendulum appears to have swung away from reality shows at the moment, with the hot shows scripted programs such as Desperate Housewives and Lost.

"Everything is cyclical," van Munster said. "There was a bit of a gold rush there for a while. Everybody thought they were a reality producer, and they could make a quick buck. The best [reality] shows will still survive."

Recently, Buzz had the pleasure of meeting Bill Gaghan who, with his wife and two children, completed six legs before being eliminated

What made you decide to enter the Race?

My wife has wanted to enter this kind of reality show for the longest time, and had been applying with her friends, her father, probably about four different times. She has always wanted to do it with me but thought that if we got picked, who’d watch the kids while we’re gone on the race? So, when this family format came up, we thought it was a great way to spend time as a family.

For us, joining the race was more for the adventure, the challenge and the competition of the race. I mean, to be able to travel and see interesting things that we normally wouldn’t able to see or experience in a very short time. It was no vacation – it was a race – but we went into it making sure we enjoyed and appreciated things as much as we could along the way.

How was it different being the only family with little children in the team, besides the Black family?

Every team has strengths and weaknesses. Looking at our team, it’s pretty obvious that having little kids made some tasks a lot tougher. But, Tammy and I travel a lot, and so one of our strengths was our travel experience. Another was the energy level – the kids were probably more pumped up than their parents! Plus, the fact that we had a defined leader, we could make decisions very quickly. Some of the other teams, like the Linz family (three brothers and a sister) didn’t have a defined leader and they spent a lot of their time fighting. At the very beginning, they almost got eliminated because of that but to their credit, they recovered and ever since that, they’ve really run a very strong race. It was very tough for us to compete against them, but we thought we had a good chance anyway.

What was the toughest thing you and your family had to do in the race?

The physically toughest thing that we had to do was when we pushed the Amish buggy for a mile-and-a-half. For me, I’ve run 11 marathons. Having run for thousands and thousands of miles, pushing that buggy was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. And there was only Tammy and I who pushed that darn thing. Although we had only little kids in there, and it’s a lighter weight for us, but the other teams had four adults who could switch turns and take a rest inside. That was a nightmare, but it felt good to be the first team to finish that challenge in the end.

Emotionally, the toughest part was at the end, looking at Phil in the eye and knowing it was coming. Plus, watching the show later, I saw Clarissa’s reaction when Phil told her we were eliminated. She kind of shrugged her shoulders and tried so hard to be a good soldier – that was really heart-breaking for me. Billy was consoling her, which was a nice big brother act, and I was proud of my family at that point, to see how we bonded together in a stressful condition. That was emotionally hard for me.

You were seen giving high fives to the Paolos when they chose to Yield team Florida (Weavers). We know that Ron and Amber were the ruthless duo in the previous Amazing Race. This time, it seems the Weavers are taking over as the most disliked team. But what made most of the teams in the Family Edition, and you especially, dislike the Weavers?

In the very beginning, you can’t talk to the other teams but when you started racing, you started talking to the people, developing relationships. From that first night when we were kind of getting together and bonded with each other, the Weavers clearly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. When I was on the race I kept a little journal and typed it all up in the computer. Just recently I was reading through things just to refresh my memory and one of the things I wrote was the second night when we were staying in Virginia; it was an extended pit stop so we were there for a day-and-a-half. All the other families were down at a common area where we were staying and we were all talking to each other, laughing and getting to know each other, but the Weavers had spent that first night the whole time locked up in their room all by themselves. So they wanted to be alone, so that’s okay, but later don’t come back and say “all the other teams hate us, they don’t like us.” I mean, you can’t have it both ways; it’s either you want to be alone or be part of the group. Even to this day, we send emails and telephone each other and form a very tight bond. Unfortunately, the Weavers aren’t part of that bond because that’s the way they chose to be.

If you could blame somebody for your elimination, who would it be? Do you think your wife’s bad luck in finding the red bean task caused your elimination?

Not the kids, definitely. There was nothing that our kids did that we can blame them. The decisions that got us eliminated were entirely Tammy and mine. It wasn’t really the red bean either. Tammy found the bean three to four minutes after the Weavers. For us it was the navigation from the red bead to the surf shop that killed us. For one, we didn’t have a map, so we were trying to figure out where we were going and we didn’t do it fast enough.

How did your family, especially your children take the loss?

We were sad, but not because we didn’t win. We kept on coming in second to last for awhile, and I didn’t want them to get depressed or demotivated so I said that all we had to do to stay alive in this was to pass one team. For us at that point, the team ahead of us was maybe two, five or eight minutes ahead of us, it was within reason to believe that we could pass them. So that’s how I kept it realistic for the children and kept them motivated. Like for Clarissa, she plays soccer for our town and she’s a really super competitive little girl. She goes out giving a hundred and ten per cent all the time and really likes to win. And Billy’s also a tough competitor who plays football. Despite that, we know that apart from winning, losing was also an option. We were sad, but merely because the adventure had come to the end for us.

Why was little Carissa crying at the end?

It was really because the adventure is over, she really wanted to keep on going and compete. Once it was over, when the camera was off, Phil came over and gave her a nice big hug. Phil has a nine year-old daughter as well, so I think he had like a special bond with Clarissa. All of the production people said very nice things to her and the family and wished us good luck. In the very beginning, it probably took two to three days for us to start switching gears from the race mode to trying to get ourselves back to normal life a little bit.

Now that the race has ended for you, who are you rooting for?

We are friends with the other teams in the race. The Bransen family is really nice and they are running a strong race. The Linz family is really nice as well, so it’s either the two of them.

Their "Team Who-Dey" is one of three families competing in the two-hour season finale.

"We're on a mission to win $1 million," Tommy told viewers last week.

Who dey think gonna beat them Linzes?

Nobody, according to www.Sportsbook.com. It suspended wagering on "The Amazing Race" before the September premiere due to the large number of bets placed on the Linzes.

Terri Linz, their mother, says her kids haven't told her a thing about the finale - or any episode - since coming home from the July taping.

Ten families began the race in New York City, and traveled across the United States to Central America, and back to the far West.

When the Linzes were knocked from first to last place by a dead car battery in an episode in Utah two weeks ago, Mom frantically called Nick at his home in Buffalo. He gave her the answer she has heard for weeks from her kids: "Just watch the show."

"I know people look at me strange when I say it, but I don't know what's going to happen," says Terri, 52, a part-time nurse at Mercy Hospital Clermont.

Terri and her husband, Tom, have watched the weekly exploits here with more than 150 family members or friends. The kids have flown an airplane, piloted a hot-air balloon, ridden an astronaut's centrifugal force machine, and assembled railroad tracks and a covered wagon.

"My kids have done more things and seen more places than I ever thought," their mom says. "Nick says he's made notes, and wants to visit every place he's seen."

During a September visit here, host Phil Keoghan praised the Linzes' strength, positive attitude and willingness to try new things. While the Linzes laughed their way through adversity, other teams argued and imploded.

"One of the best things going for them is they have a sense of humor. It will get you through anything. A sense of humor is absolutely imperative if you're going to travel these days."

All the Linzes - Mom, Dad, their seven children and only daughter-in-law - are flying to New York for CBS' finale party Tuesday. Everyone is going because they were all on a Christmas vacation last year in the Cancun airport when a casting director asked if they would consider auditioning for a reality show.

Now they are reality TV stars. Internet chat boards have been buzzing about the Linzes, which likely will translate into national celebrity even if they don't win the cash.

"I love All-American, Midwest prime beef and these boys totally fit the bill," wrote one fan on Televisionwithoutpity.com.

Since August, CBS has banned the Linzes from making any public appearances. They've turned down requests to be honored by the Bengals at a halftime ceremony (though they signed autographs when recognized at the Bengals-Ravens game). Nick and Alex, former St. Xavier football players, couldn't participate in the Bombers pep rally before the state championship two weeks ago.

It all changes Tuesday night.

"We'll just see what happens," their mom says. "I'm not prepared at all, and neither do I think they are. Given opportunities, they're not stupid."

Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 This season's underwhelming Family Edition of The Amazing Race concludes tonight, when three teams are expected to race through Canada on their way to a finish line in Niagara Falls, New York: there's the annoying Weaver family, the spunky Linz siblings and the blond Bransen sisters and their dad Wally.

The producers tried to freshen up the format by having families of four instead of teams of two. But because young children were involved, travel was contained to North and Central America, thereby eliminating two appealing components of the round-the-world version: (a) spectacular footage of foreign cultures, and (b) Americans struggling spectacularly to adapt to foreign cultures. Remember model Kendra, the eventual winner of Amazing Race 6, complaining that families in Africa "just keep breeding"?

An unintentionally ludicrous corollary of the new format was that the only black family on the show was actually named "the Black family." Mainstream reality television shows are always suspiciously low on visible minorities; this image was only compounded when host Phil Keoghan stared dramatically into the eyes of the losing candidates on the first episode and said, "Black family, I'm sorry to tell you you've all been eliminated from the race." It was like a skit from Dave Chappelle's show.

Tonight (9 p.m., CTV and CBS) the teams arrive in Toronto, where one of the Linz brothers (I can't tell them apart, nor the Bransen sisters, for that matter) collides with Rolly Weaver in a race for the Terminal One ticket counter. This will be yet another in a series of injustices committed against the Weavers, who have the biggest persecution complex since Conrad Black. They play the game as fiercely as anyone else, but when another team, usually the Linzes, tries to gain an advantage on them, it's because they hate them for loving God.

Someone must be listening to the prayers the Weavers have offered throughout the race, though, because no one else is on their side -- certainly not the producers, who have demonstrated a cruel sense of humour about the Weaver kids having lost their father in a racetrack accident. Hey, wouldn't it make great television to have the family drive to a speedway, where they are assigned a vaguely worded task involving "speeding" around? After many tears were shed over the prospect of using a racecar, the Weavers were finally shown the four-person bicycle they were to use for the task.

And yet, in spite of all that, it's impossible to root for them. I think they lost me in the very first episode, after a truck driver offered directions and Ma Weaver ran off shouting over her shoulder, "We'll be spending eternity together!"

The Bransens, meanwhile, are an appealing combination of three athletic sisters and a dad that would be your next-door neighbour in Anytown, U.S.A., equal parts goofy hair, dopey grin, short temper and beer belly. Each leg has included at least one "Hurry up, dad!" scene. Tonight the Bransens apparently find themselves looking for something at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. There are so many empty yellow seats around them, they must have been at an Expos game.

Finally, there are the Weavers' arch-rivals the Linzes, consisting of three brothers who spend their weekends at Home Depot, plus their beleaguered sister. The Linzes barely beat that Black family to survive the first episode, but since then, have finished third or higher every week but one. It's tough to bet against them in any task involving strength, but if God answers the Weavers' prayers and smites them, it could be an amazing finish.

On paper, a version of The Amazing Race featuring families of four tearing around the globe sounded perfect. Imagine the agony of driving cross-country with squealing offspring crammed in the back of the station wagon, and multiply the time, distance and drama by a factor of 100.

But The Amazing Race: Family Edition, which reaches the finish line in tonight's two-hour season finale (9 p.m. on CTV and CBS), couldn't deliver on its promise.

WHINING

With the exception of Florida's God-lovin' Weaver clan, made up of widowed mom Linda and kids aged 14 to 19, all the families with younger children were culled from the herd relatively early. To be fair, though, the adults have held up their end of the bickering, whining and fit-throwing nicely.

And the show's tradition of taking contestants to far-flung lands was severely clipped by the presence of kids. So instead, we were treated to what amounted to a travelogue of the United States, with only the briefest sojourns to Panama, Costa Rica and Canada.

Still in the running for the $1-million US prize are the Weavers, the Linz family (three brothers and one long-suffering sister) and the Bransen family (dad and three twentysomething daughters.)

Frankly, tonight's ending won't be a moment too soon. Why? Well, there was the aforementioned lack of country-hopping and the large number of players didn't help either.

CBS has confirmed the next season of The Amazing Race, already filmed and due to air early next year, will revert back to traditional teams of two. So at least there's that.

The Linz siblings -- Megan, Alex, Nick and Tommy. Channel 12's viewership for "The Amazing Race" has been more than double the national average.

Well, at least they haven't embarrassed mom.

Terri Linz, a part-time nurse from Anderson Township, whose four kids are in the running to be the first tri-state contestants to hit a reality show jackpot, said there have been only a few moments in CBS's "The Amazing Race: Family Edition" that required her to cringe.

"Outside of some choice words and passing flatulence - as the nurse mom would say - no, they've been good," Terri said. "All in all I've gotten nothing but great comments. And that's what's been so cool from friends. Even random people have just called and said it's so much fun watching your family and how heart warming they are. That's music to my ears."

Going into tonight's two-hour finale, at 9 p.m. on WKRC-TV (Channel 12), the three bothers and sister team are easily the most athletic and robust of the three remaining teams. The other finalist families are Linda Weaver, a Florida widow and her three children, and Walter Bransen from Illinois with his three daughters.

The four Linzes are the middle four of seven kids raised by Terri and her husband, Tom, a partner in a packaging company. The Linz team:

Nick, 24, a sales rep for his dad's company based in Buffalo, N.Y.

Alex, 23, an emergency room technician now living at home awaiting medical school applications.

Megan, 21, a junior at Miami University.

Tommy (aka "Bone"), 19, a sophomore at Miami.

The four have come across as a fun-loving bunch - yes, flashing some college-age, bathroom humor and a prankster attitude toward other players. They have done the challenges - including rappelling, building wagon wheels, bailing out boats, assembling railroad tracks, piloted a stunt plane and a hot air balloon - with an infectious good humor.

"My children, by nature, take life in a very good-humored way. They went into this knowing they would have fun, regardless. And it has been a ride of a lifetime," Terri said.

While careful to praise all his teams, the show's executive producer and co-creator, Bertram van Munster, who is personally involved with the casting, also seemed high on the Linzes in an interview last Friday.

"They had a fantastic dynamic, a really terrific group of people," said van Munster. "Most of them had a good sports background, so they had a good sense of fairness. They have a real solid all-American background."

"Amazing Race" producers took a chance this season by messing with the formula of the series, which has won three Emmys in a row for best reality show. The game has always featured up to 16 teams with two people each. This season, all 10 teams comprised four members who were related somehow to each other. Further, the race was mostly in the United States, unlike the usual around-the-world sprint.

Van Munster acknowledged ratings were down at first this season. "It is not easy to tell the story of 40 people, but as we went on, our ratings kept going up. I have gotten a lot of compliments."

However, van Munster said he has no plans for another family edition. The next "Race" will be back to the duo teams, but CBS has not made a decision yet when it will air.

"The Amazing Race" has almost quietly become one of America's most famous pop culture exports. Even the current edition is seen in dozens of countries and van Munster says it has become an international phenomenon that defines the country as much as Condoleezza Rice's globetrotting.

"The show is a fantastic business card for the United States of America," he said. "This is a beautiful country, and we get nothing but criticism from all the other stuff."

Van Munster says when "Amazing Race" crews show up to film in other countries, the show is almost instantly recognized and warmly greeted no matter how remote the locale.

The show is a logistical nightmare to produce with a crew of 2,000 almost constantly on the move. When suggested to van Munster that fans would probably watch a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of "Race," he said, "Call CBS."

"In this business, and particularly CBS, they would never do it," he said. "I don't think they want to show how we do this stuff. They are opposed to 'making-ofs.' "

As for tonight's outcome, Terri Linz insists her kids have kept it a secret, which at times prompted her to call her kids midway through episodes asking, "C'mon I can't stand it."

"Repeatedly, their classic line is, 'Mom watch the show.' I can't believe these kids are doing this to me. Over and over. We are a pretty close-knit family and sometimes a mom can read between the lines. This time they are keeping it really secret."

There was a suggestion somebody may have leaked something last September when an Internet betting site halted wagering on the series because of an unusual number of bets coming from Ohio. Both Terri and the show's producer shrug off the controversy.

"We just had to laugh," Terri said. "My husband said he wouldn't bet on his kids so why would anyone else."

"We have investigated it and it's come to an end," van Munster said without offering any details.

He said he often dispatches decoy camera crews and uses other tricks to help diffuse and even spread rumors during a filming of the series to muddy the waters for "Race" pundits.

Your latest commentsKelly - I completely agree with 'Can't wait to see it'! I read the ...the L word - They should have the same misery as us hetero***uals..if the...lawandorder - How can a kid who has seen his father break the law all his ...chris-MN - why do people continue to call themselves "reporters" and th...Click comment to go to story“It’s ours, unless someone takes it from us — and that’s not going to happen,” the Cincinnati resident told the national TV audience as last week’s show ended.

Their “Team Who-Dey” in Bengals’ orange shirts is one of three families competing in the two-hour season finale (8-10 p.m., CBS). In a new twist, the families finishing second and third will compete for a new GMC Yukon XL in a challenge available only at www.CBS.com after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

“We’re on a mission to win $1 million,” Tommy told viewers on last week’s show.

And they might. The online betting service, www.Sportsbook.com, suspended wagering on “The Amazing Race” before the September premiere, because of a large number of bets being placed on the Linzes from Ohio. The same thing happened in March, with heavy betting on a Houston couple that won “The Amazing Race” two months later.

Terri Linz, their mother, says her kids haven’t told her a thing about the finale — or any episode — since coming home from the July taping. Ten families began the race in New York City and traveled across the U.S. to Central America and back to the far West.

When the Linzes were knocked from first to last place by a dead car battery in an Utah episode two weeks ago, mom frantically called Nick at his home in Buffalo. He gave her the answer she has heard for weeks from her kids: “Just watch the show.”

“I know people look at me strange when I say it, but I don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Terri, 52, a part-time nurse. “But that’s the way it should be. It makes it more fun for everyone that way.”

Terri and her husband, Tom, have watched the weekly exploits at a downtown Cincinnati restaurant with more than 150 family members or friends. The kids have flown an airplane, piloted a hot-air balloon, ridden an astronaut’s centrifugal force machine, and assembled railroad tracks and a covered wagon.

“My kids have done more things and seen more places than I ever thought,” their mom says. “Nick says he’s made notes and wants to visit every place he’s seen.”

During a September visit to Cincinnati, host Phil Keoghan praised the Linzes’ strength, positive attitude and willingness to try new things. While the Linzes laughed their way through adversity, other teams argued and imploded.

“I love the Linzes. They’re naive in a good way, meaning they’re receptive to change,” he said.

“One of the best things going for them is they have a sense of humor. It will get you through anything. A sense of humor is absolutely imperative if you’re going to travel these days,” Keoghan said.

All the Linzes — mom, dad, their seven children and only daughter-in-law — are flying to New York for CBS’ finale party. Everyone is going because they were all on a Christmas vacation last year in the Cancun airport when a casting director asked if they would consider auditioning for a reality show.

Now they’re reality TV stars. Internet chat boards have been buzzing about the Linzes, which likely will translate into national celebrity. Even if they don’t win the cash.

“I love All-American, Midwest prime beef and these boys totally fit the bill,” wrote one fan on the Television Without Pity (www.Televisionwithoutpity.com) Web site. Wrote another: “I really like the Linzes, especially Megan who seems really cool and is pretty to boot.”

Since August, CBS has banned the Linzes from making any public appearances. They’ve turned down requests to be honored by the Bengals at a half-time ceremony (though they signed autographs when recognized at the Bengals-Ravens game).

It all changes Tuesday night.

“We’ll just see what happens,” their mom says. “I’m not prepared at all, and neither do I think they are. Given opportunities, they’re not stupid.”

Buffalo salesman's mother is the only one talking about 'Amazing Race' finish

12/13/2005

By ALAN PERGAMENT

I just love the media rules of reality TV. I can't talk to the Buffalo salesman, Nick Linz, whose Cincinnati family is among the three finalists in the two-hour finale of CBS' "Amazing Race" (9 tonight, Channel 4). He's being silenced until Wednesday morning after the $1 million check is presented on the American side of Niagara Falls in tonight's finale.

But CBS did allow me to talk with Nick's mom, Terri.

It's a good thing, too. I expected a ton of e-mails from Nick's co-workers as "Amazing" went on, but they never materialized. All I knew about him came from a Cincinnati newspaper story that said he "was the bruising fullback on the 1998 runner-up high school team in Ohio, St. Xavier."

After talking to Nick's mom, I understand why my e-mail box wasn't overloaded. Mrs. Linz said Nick works for two companies in Amherst that specialize in packaging and shrink labeling, Tri Pack Sleevers and Packstar. They are co-owned by Nick's father, Tom, who lives in Cincinnati, and has two partners, Andy Sharp and Helen Ma, in Buffalo.

Mrs. Linz added that the multimillion dollar companies are expanding, and Nick will soon be moving to the West Coast. That suggests the family doesn't need the prize money.

Wrong.

"Of course, he does, everybody could," said Mrs. Linz, noting Nick is one of seven children. "They all have college loans."

The Linz family was approached by a representative of "Amazing Race" while they were on a family vacation in Cancun.

"We were all sitting around and someone said, "You look like a nice family' and asked if they wanted to do it," said Mrs. Linz. Nick, 24, Alex, 22, Megan, 21 and Tommy, 19, eventually went online along with thousands of others and applied.

"They did it right at the deadline," said Mrs. Linz. "That's typical of my family - procrastination."

Oh, mom.

They were chosen to appear and immediately took the colors (orange and black) and cheer of the Cincinnati Bengals and dubbed themselves the Who Dey Team.

To be honest, I haven't watched much of the eighth edition of the Emmy-winning series. The buzz on this edition was worse than the buzz on the marriage between another Cincinnati native, Nick Lachey, and Jessica Simpson. It's been called, uh, dull.

"Not by everyone," said Mrs. Linz. She is proud of the weekly cheers she gets from friends and viewers who tell her how much they have enjoyed watching such a nice family.

"I find myself a little humbled," she said. "They all say how wonderful it is that they are kind to each other and are having fun together. They consider it a lifetime experience."

After watching last Tuesday's semifinal, I understand some of the criticism. The final four may have been the least diverse group on any TV show since the early years of "Friends."

It consisted of four white families. The Linz Family is composed of Nick, his two brothers and their only sister. The Bransens (dad and three daughters), the Weavers (a widowed mother and her children) and the Godlewskis (four sisters) rounded out the final four.

They built teepees or put four wheels on a covered wagon they took for a short ride, had their pictures taken at a saloon named after Buffalo Bill's daughter (Irma) and looked for colored golf balls on a course.

The Linz family led for most of the hour, but blew first place when they forgot to look for a fourth golf ball in the most likely place - the hole. That was so Buffalo.

Not that the Linz family talked much about Buffalo. The Queen City they mentioned was in Ohio. That's natural since they are from Cincinnati, which also calls itself the Queen City.

The Godlewskis were way behind for most of the hour, though there was some brief suspense when the Weavers were stopped for speeding. They ended up with a warning and earned third place.

The most interesting aspect of the semifinal for Western New Yorkers probably came during the promos for tonight's episode, which revealed they take a jet boat ride in the Niagara River, and there is a curling competition.

The episode was filmed locally on July 31, with the show sending some "Amazing" fanatics off on a wild goose chase to Toronto and Boston so the secret of who won was retained.

Since Nick lives here, you might think he had some sort of home advantage in the final leg that might help his family win.

But let's face it. If his family loses after coming so close to winning, it would make him seem more like a real Buffalonian.

The Amazing Race lost its edge with too many participants, a lack of exotic travel locations and the early loss of some of those love-to-hate-'em contestants.

By STEVE TILLEY, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS

Next time, leave the kids at home.

On paper, a version of The Amazing Race featuring families of four tearing around the globe sounded perfect: Imagine the agony of driving cross-country with squealing offspring crammed in the back of the station wagon and multiply the time and distance by the drama of competition. With every last temper tantrum caught on tape.

Except The Amazing Race: Family Edition, which reaches the finish line in tonight's two-hour season finale, didn't deliver on its promise. Or at least its premise.

With the exception of Florida's God-lovin' Weaver clan, made up of widowed mom Linda and kids aged 14 to 19, all the families with younger children were culled from the herd relatively early. To be fair, though, the adults have held up their end of the bickering, whining and fit-throwing nicely.

The show's tradition of taking contestants to far-flung lands and foreign cultures was severely clipped by the presence of kids, who the producers likely feared would have trouble crossing international borders, not to mention the risk of little Rolly Weaver wandering off into the slums of Cairo.

So instead, we were treated to what amounted to a travelogue of the United States, with only the briefest sojourns to Panama, Costa Rica and Canada.

To all appearances, the race will end tonight on Canuck soil, unless the final three families quickly blast back to the U.S. after manoeuvring around Toronto and Montreal.

Still in the running for the $1 million US prize are the Weavers, the Linz family (three brothers and one long-suffering sister) and the Bransen family (dad and three twenty-something daughters.)

We know the families ride jet boats up the Niagara Gorge, race through Pearson International Airport to catch a flight, try their hands at curling and search the bleachers at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, for starters.

We were hoping for a finish line at the base of the CN Tower or some such, but given the logical order of the events shown in the preview for tonight's episode, the checkered flag looks more likely to be waved at a Quebec locale.

Frankly, it won't be a moment too soon. Although things have picked up a little in the last few episodes, thanks in no small part to the fact the wonderfully grating Weavers are still in the running, the buzz surrounding this eighth instalment of the race has been the lowest since the series began.

Why? Well, there was the aforementioned lack of country-hopping. Part of the reason we tune into this show is to see places that we'll likely never be able to afford to visit, or haven't even heard of. Old Faithful is nifty and all, but come on.

The plethora of players didn't help either. Instead of the standard 11 teams of two, we had 10 families of four. While some clans were able to make an early mark (we still miss you, Mama Paolo), others were lost in the shuffle. Can you name the members of the Rogers or Black families or even remember what they looked like? Probably not.

CBS has confirmed the next season of The Amazing Race, already filmed and due to air early next year, will revert to traditional teams of two.

Tonight's finale is likely to come down to the Linzes and Bransens, the two strongest teams. A mix of luck and hard work has seen the Weavers survive longer than anyone imagined possible, though, so they shouldn't be counted out.

They can't win, of course, because they've been painted as the kooky villains of this piece all along.

But hopefully, they'll make tonight's two-hour season capper a little more interesting.

A Park Ridge, Ill., family lost in the finale of the game show "The Amazing Race 8," Tuesday night, blowing a shot at $1 million.

The Bransens -- a 51-year-old father and three daughters -- got beat in the 25-day physical challenge by the Linz family, four sports-playing siblings from Cincinnati whose ages were 19 to 24.

The Bransens began the final episode in first place, with a few minutes' lead over two families. But the Bransens soon fell behind by picking a slow plane ride from Montana to Montreal during one bland challenge or another. They regained the lead later but couldn't hold on.

Previous "Race" seasons have been acclaimed by fans and critics. But not this one.

A contest involving shoes?

The show's tasks were stupid. Tuesday, a family had to go to a shoe store, select a shoe, and find a woman whose foot fit the shoe. They had to ride on a speed boat. It was all very pedestrian.

The grumpy nature of the show brought out the worst in families. When the Bransen daughters gave their dad, Walter, grief about lagging in one chore, show producers ran sound bites of him saying, "Oh shut up," and "I'm gonna kick somebody's ass."

Among disgruntled "Race" fans are Steve Meitz and Dave Cottingham, who were Chicago air traffic controllers when they entered "Amazing Race 4" and lost. On Sunday, they co-wrote on a "Race" fan Web site called Tarflies.com that the "crappy" "Family Edition" "sucks," because it was less demanding than earlier "Races."

Trash-talking

They wrote that family "teams had to dress in costumes and have their pictures taken," whereas on an earlier season of "Race," "teams had to dress in costume and carry 500 (kilograms) of cheese."

My own viewing frustration is "Family Edition" was insipid and annoying. Contestants complained about each other, to each other, and about other families. A few families bumped flesh in an airport on Tuesday's show, and started trash-talking, saying they sucked, and they hated each other.

What's worse, the show claimed to reward smarts and physical prowess, but teams were unjustly forced to be in virtual ties during the finale. How so?

Another area family lost

For the first hour-plus, the teams raced like mad through obstacles to get to a stadium. But after the stadium, they were essentially forced to wait for airline flights to Toronto that departed at about the exact same time. That negated almost all their hard work.

If that doesn't sound unfair enough, on one week's show another Illinois family, the Godlewski sisters from Des Plaines, went from first place to last place after a CBS-provided car ran out of battery power. They were eliminated.

The whole experience of the show should be questioned. If you never watched, this is what you missed: cameras followed bellyachers who ran, drove and rode to 50 cities where they did little things, like rolling logs. Fast-paced music went pow with fortes and cymbal crashes. It was insufferable.

The only good minute of the finale came at the end, when families said nice things, finally. A Bransen sister said of her father, "We wouldn't have made it through this without him." Cue music. Cue tears. Cue cancellation. Please.

Last night’s two-hour season finale of “The Amazing Race: Family Edition” averaged a 4.6 overnight rating among viewers 18-49, down 31 percent versus the 6.7 overnight rating season seven’s finale earned last spring.

Last season “Race,” which had been on the rise since summer 2004, featured “Survivor’s” Rob and Amber, and viewership grew as the season progressed, with viewers tuning in to see if the dynamic duo could be defeated. They were bumped out in the season finale.

This year “Race” played with the formula again, sending family teams of four people trotting around the globe instead of the usual two. But this time the result was a bust.

“Family Edition” averaged a 4.2 overnight rating among 18-49s through 11 episodes this season, off 21 percent versus the Rob and Amber season.

“Family Edition” was also off compared to the last non-Rob and Amber season of “Race.” Last night’s 4.6 overnight for the finale was down 12 percent versus a 5.2 for season six’s finale last fall.

Viewers never warmed to the family format, with one common complaint being the challenges weren’t as exciting as past editions of “Race.” People also did not like having kids on the show, a frequent gripe about reality TV.

Last night’s episode was the highest-rated of the season, and up 24 percent from the 3.7 overnight rating the show had averaged over its previous three episodes.

It also helped CBS finish first for the night among 18-49s, coming in with a 4.5 average rating and a 12 share. Fox finished second at 4.0/11, NBC third at 3.4/9, ABC fourth at 3.0/8, and UPN and the WB tied for fifth at 1.2/3.

CBS started the night in the lead with a 4.2 average rating during the 8 p.m. hour for “NCIS.” NBC was second that hour with a 3.1 for the first hour of a 90-minute “Fear Factor” and ABC third with a 3.0 average for the comedies “According to Jim” (3.0) and “Hope & Faith” (2.9).

At 9 p.m. Fox took the lead with a 5.2 rating for “House,” the highest-rated hour of the night in the demo. CBS was second with a 4.2 for the first hour of the “Race” finale and NBC third with a 3.6 for the last half hour of “Fear Factor” (4.1) and a repeat of “My Name is Earl” (3.0).

CBS regained the lead during the 10 p.m. hour with a 5.1 average for the second half of “Race.” NBC took second with a 3.6 for a “Law & Order: SVU” rerun and ABC third with a 3.1 for an original “Boston Legal.”

Among households, CBS led the night with an 8.3 average rating and a 13 share. Fox was second at 6.9/11, NBC third at 6.0/9, ABC fourth at 5.9/9, UPN fifth at 2.1/3 and the WB sixth at 2.0/3.

CBS won the 18-49 demo Tuesday in the Nielsen overnight ratings with a 4.5 rating/12 share for drama NCIS and the two-hour finale of reality show Amazing Race, winning every half-hour except the two Amazing Race half-hours that went up against Fox's drama, House, the night's top-rated show at a 5.2/13 at 9-10.

"I loved every minute of it!" Tommy Linz, 19, says of The Amazing Race: Family Edition, which sent him, his brothers Alex, 22, and Nick, 24, and sister Megan, 21, zipping through 50 cities in three countries in 25 days. TVGuide.com talked to the foursome the day after their long ride officially ended.

TVGuide.com: Congratulations! For a while there I thought God might help the Weavers win. If that had happened, what would you have done?Nick Linz: We would have congratulated them! They were a strong team and very competitive.

TVGuide.com: Now that you've won $1 million, what will you do with it?Nick: We will give half to our parents and split the other half between all seven kids. I think that we will be spending our money on paying back student loans and also, maybe, splurge a little.

TVGuide.com: In the first leg of the race, they edited out a task wherein you had to take the flag to the flag store. Were there other parts that were edited out?Alex Linz: They did a good job putting the show together. Obviously, there are some things that are better off not being shown, like our car breaking down.

TVGuide.com: Speaking of that, did you have a hissy fit when it happened?Nick: Not at all. The situation was completely out of our hands. Knowing we were being bumped back kind of stunk, but there was nothing we could do about it.

TVGuide.com: A friend of mine saw a clue box this summer in Niagara Falls, but it was set up in a different location. Was part of that challenge cut out?Tommy Linz: From what I understand, CBS and the producers set up decoys.Megan Linz: You've seen the spoilers on the Internet. It's all a way to throw people off.

TVGuide.com: You got home in August. How did you manage to not say anything to your family for three months?Nick: We signed a big fat contract that said if we did, we could be sued for a lot of money. You don't get any of your winnings.

TVGuide.com: So you put on a serious game face?Alex: Seeing my parents almost every day was hard, especially at times when people were saying, "I know you guys want to say something." But I would just play it off. Every day it got easier not to say anything.Meg: At school, our friends would hassle me and Tommy. I would just say "I don't know" and drop it.

TVGuide.com: What was that crash with Rolly about?Alex: We were both racing to the counter and I lost my balance. They edited that part to make it seem bigger than it was. It was not a big deal.

TVGuide.com: So Meg, when they showed you saying, "It's getting personal," what were you talking about?Meg: It was just a comment that came out of my mouth after Mrs. Weaver said, "Don't touch my kid. Don't touch him!" I mean, is that really necessary? Do you really honestly think that my brother's trying to hurt your son? It wasn't necessary. But then again, in the heat of the moment, I made a comment that wasn't necessary either.

TVGuide.com: How long did it really take to find the clue in Toronto's underground city?Nick: Two hours. It took a lot of running around, backtracking and retracing our steps.

TVGuide.com: It must have taken longer to find the box in the stadium. The Weavers' mother went to sleep!Meg: It took every team close to five hours to find that box.Nick: Even longer.Alex: If we could pick the hardest task on the whole race, it's got to be that one. The clue boxes were so small, they blended in with the chairs. That's why, as soon as we found one, we took it.Meg: It was a long day.

TVGuide.com: One of you called the Weavers "The Wicked Witch of the East and her three little monkeys." Who said it and what have you got against the Weavers?Alex: I'll own up to that one. At times the Weavers seemed to rub us the wrong way. We made jokes about it, but in no way was it meant maliciously.

TVGuide.com: What did you guys think of the nickname the Weavers gave you — "G.I. Joes and G.I. Jane"?Alex: We look like we're in shape, so I thought it was kind of cool. Clever.

TVGuide.com: You all made some whopper mistakes along the way, like forgetting to take a number for the helicopter ride and generally not reading clues carefully. If you were to give one of your team members an "Oops-That-Was-a-Doozy" trophy for the stupidest mistake, who would get it?Nick: Bone's "I am 100 percent positive I see the flag" stunt he pulled at the CN Tower probably deserves it.

TVGuide.com: There seemed to be a lot of flirting going on between you and the Bransen daughters. They mooned you. You flashed them. Spill it: Who made a move on whom when Daddy Bransen wasn't around?Nick: Daddy was always around, so what can you do?